The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South by John W. Blassingame is the featured article on October 2, 2009.
The article is a review of a different kind. It has referred to different reviews of the book. Personally, I am not able to appreciate reviews much. I have not been able to read the reviews and abandon them moment the writer alludes to some other fact, or start praising the book or just question the content. I have never been able to read long reviews. The book reviews which generally appear in newspaper are not reviews per se. They seems to be serving some motive. However, in this article, I have completed the reading of the whole article. I even borrowed some references for my personal notes.
The Slavery in Antebellum America, Slavery as a cause of American Civil War, the Abolitionist activities, all such issues interest me. I am yet not clear about many dimensions related to them. I have many questions about them which require answers. Therefore, moment I located it, I opened the article.
The slaves had survived the plantation life and had their own culture borrowed from their African ancestors. The books which I have read, especially the Great Republic by Baylyn, the issue of Slave culture has been nicely dealt with in there. However, this review has helped to have a glimpse of the methodology adopted by the historian. The brief detail which is given in the review is quite impressive and attracts the attention of the reader towards the book. Unfortunately, the publisher has not allowed google books to display any pages. The publishers should review their policy of allowing the display of the contents of the book. In case of Limited Preview, I do not think any reader could get enough out of it that he would not buy the book. If a reader requires a book, and few pages are shown to him, then I believe, that it is a good marketing strategy as you have very discretely converted a mere onlooker to a probable buyer.
As a teacher of history, I must appreciate the writer who has written this review. The history begins with sources. Then comes the methodology. The reviewers has taken care of discussing both the factors apart from discussing the subject of the book.
I read with great interest about the psychological tools to which the sources have been subjected to by the historians. I remember, that I learned about this aspect of evaluation for inference in V. N. Dattas thesis on Madan Lal Dhingra. I myself sometime believe that a historian must undertake psychological interpretations of the period under review. Mere economic or social evaluation are incomplete work as such. The Statistical Thinking impresses but a human being is more than a mere hunter of food, cloth and housing. Similarly, Man in the Society has to be studied if the society is to be studied. Therefore, it brings in the need of psychological interpretations.
Another peculiar feature of this article is that it has a very less discussion. Even then, the quality of discussion is quite relevant and scholarly in nature. There are only two people, one writer and other who is interested in studying the Slave factor in Antebellum America.
The Article is Worth reading. (Provided one knows the American History)
To visit the article, use the following link:
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